Little Sisters

The weekend is over. For the first time since moving to New York I felt lonely. This is most likely because I had no plans and because my roommate was back in Boston, much to her and my dismay.

On Friday night I played lots of piano - I am working on a cover of a song to play at an open mic. I probably won't play this week. I want to get a recording of this song before I go public. I've actually only heard this song once or twice in my life. My father used to play it on the piano all the time when I was little, so I have this distorted notion of how it goes. I heard it recently in a vegetarian cafe in Williamsburg and realized that its one of the best emo songs ever written, despite being from the 70's and being by one of the classic rock's giants.

Saturday was spent doing things like reading, piano, and three loads of laundry! And grocery shopping! And the cooking of pasta for dinner, which was monumental since I haven't managed to boil pasta in years.

Also on Saturday one of the boys I met outside the Riviera called. Luckily I didn't answer the phone. This is not the one I really wanted to call, of course. I am torn as to what to do - I know I don't want to date this guy but I liked him well enough. I'm not sure I want to date anyone right now. There's far too much for me to do on a personal level to be bothered, unless there are skyrockets. Faithful readers, do I:

1. not call him back, thus losing the potential for a cool friend
2. call him back and go on a date with him and then tell him I don't want to date him or
3. call him back and tell him I think he's cool and I'd like to hang out, but I'm
not interested in dating anyone right now

My vote is 3, but is that evil? I suppose if he thinks its evil, he can always say "I only want to date. I have enough friends."

I watched baseball until the bottom of the fourth on Saturday night and then dragged myself away from the TV to see my favorite band in the world, Pinback, play around the corner. The opening band, Aspects of Physics was raw torture despite their having a promising name. Raw. Torture. They were all computer-y and art rock and god awful and had projections.

Between the opening band and Pinback, I sat down next to this girl who I swear was Avril Lavigne. I swear to you. She said "Are you hear by yourself?" and I said "Why yes I am" and she said "So am I. My name is M." We talked for a while, all the while I kept thinking "Am I certain this is not Avirl Lavigne?" Seriously. She was adorable - she just moved to NYC from Kansas City, where she lived for a few months after graduating from college in CA. She needed to get away from things, but is now alternating between elation and misery in Queens, where she works at a Victoria's Secret due to her major being Philosophy. I really enjoyed her company. She took my number and we parted ways so that she could sit atop a speaker to enjoy the show. She passed by me once on the way to the bar, and on her way back she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

It struck me that thus far, the only females I've met in NYC have been like little sisters. They're all at least five years younger than me but extremely protective of my emotional state. Interesting.

Nevertheless, I digress. Pinback was also raw torture. I am devastated. This is an instance of a band being so horrible live that they are destroyed for you for the rest of time. The vocals were terrible. It amazes me that they were ever able to get vocals good enough for the albums. They rocked too hard live. The beauty of the recordings is that they are sublte and soft, really moody and elegant. Things were choppy live. I left early to watch the remainder of the game, but it was over by the time I got home. And now Pinback is ruined. Just like Death Cab For Cutie. Actually, they didn't sound unlike Death Cab For Cutie, even though they sound nothing like Death Cab For Cutie. I wonder if all emo bands sound the same live, and their recordings are just deceptive.

Sunday was SoHo shopping. I encountered all manner of little dogs wearing expensive outfits while shopping as well as all manner or snotty/obnovioux/overzealous salesperson. One girl said "That sweater will totally fit you - you should buy it without even trying it on" as she followed me around the store. I said, "No, actually, I'll just try it on" and she was all pissed. I tried it on, and it was, of course, too big. Like it was so big that it was hanging off my chest. I came out of the dressing room and handed it to her and she was like "What! What's WRONG?" and I said "Too big" and she said "But you didn't even SHOW ME" and was all bitchy. I was like "Believe me, it was too big" and she said "Hmph" and stormed away.

I also walked into a store that could have been a museum or a store. I'm still not sure. Very fancy. I shouldn't have been in there. I also tried to get into a store that was locked. Perhaps it is one of these stores where you need an appointment to shop, or the kind of place where there can only be X amount of people in there at once so that the ratio of customer to salesperson can promote perfect overzealous/obnoxious salesperson behavior.

The good news it that I have purchased a coat! Now I can appear like a New Yorker on the outside, at the very least. I admired myself in many windows on the way to work this morning. My roommate said that I look like "a piece of candy" in the coat. It is agreed that it was a good purchase.

I listened to the new Elliott Smith on the subway. I almost cried. There is some really good stuff on it, some of his best. I'm sure Elliott Smith didn't sound like Death Cab for Cutie live, and he's about as Emo as it gets. Elliott, we miss you!